Quote Originally Posted by kittycats_delight
I am in Italy and recently had to renew mine. I got it done in 1 week. I had the pics done, the application filled out, sent it off to the canadian embassy here in Rome. They received it next day. They shipped it overnight to ottawa. In 3 days it was sent back to them on an overnight and the next day it was sent to me. In total it took me 7 days from the time I sent it to the time I received it. Why is it so damned difficult and time consuming within Canada?
It might be because you had the backing of the embassy to get it more quickly -- things like having the embassy or your member of parliment to back up the application process can significantly speed things up